In marriage, love is not always found in grand gestures. Sometimes it is prepared in the kitchen, packed with care, and carried into an ordinary workday. This reflection is about how a simple baon became one of the quiet yet meaningful ways love is expressed and received in our marriage.
When Dennis and I were still dating, we had a little tradition that helped us get to know each other better. We would pull out a stack of conversation cards, each filled with questions about life, values, dreams, and relationships. It was our way of going deeper beyond the usual small talk.
One evening, we picked a card that asked: What is romantic for you? How do you show romance to the person you love?
Naturally, my mind went to the usual things people imagine when they think about romance—flowers, chocolates, candlelight dinners, long walks under the moon, or perhaps a picnic on a sunny afternoon.
Then Dennis answered.
He said that one of the most romantic things his wife could do for him was prepare his meal for work.
I remember pausing for a moment, a little surprised. In my mind, I thought, Really? Preparing food? Isn’t that just normal? What’s romantic about that?
At the time, I did not fully understand what he meant.
Fast forward to today. Now that we are married, our days have settled into rhythms and routines. One of those rhythms is cooking our meals at home. Most mornings or evenings, I prepare our food and make sure Dennis has something to bring with him to work for lunch.
In Filipino, we call it baon. It simply means a packed meal—something you bring with you for the day.
But over time, I began to realize that baon is more than just food.
Every time Dennis eats the meal I prepared, he thanks me. Not casually, but sincerely. He always says, “Thank you for cooking. That was really good.”
At first, I would brush it off in my mind. This is just what wives do, I would think. It felt ordinary to me—just part of caring for our home.
But the way he consistently expresses gratitude has slowly changed how I see it.
I realized that when he thanks me for the meal, he is really saying, “I feel loved.”
And in that moment, I feel loved too.
Marriage has a way of redefining romance. It moves it from the grand gestures we often imagine to the quiet, everyday acts that build a life together.
Romance becomes early mornings in the kitchen. It becomes the simple act of packing a lunch. It becomes gratitude spoken across the dinner table.
In many ways, these small acts remind me of what love looks like in Scripture.
1 John 3:18
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Love is not only spoken—it is prepared, packed, served, and shared.
A simple baon may not look like romance to the world. But in our marriage, it has become one of the quiet ways love travels with Dennis throughout his day.
A meal packed with care. A thank-you spoken with gratitude. Two hearts learning that love often lives in the ordinary.
And sometimes, the most meaningful expressions of love are simply love packed for the journey.